Late-Day Buying Panic Saves Russell From 3-Month Lows

In a word... "mixed" Early ugliness gave way to another ramp job courtesy of USDJPY's 101.50 level holding - which managed to clamber the Dow to unchanged on the week and stabilize the S&P (after it bounced off its 50DMA). But... Nasdaq and Russell just could not get it together until the last few minutes thanks to a VIX slam, JPY ramp and 30Y dump. Yellen's testimony pushed some volatility through markets and perhaps provided the extra pressure on the small caps (after warning of valuations). The term structure steepened modestly with 30Y +1.5bps and the rest of the curve rallying 2-3bps (10Y unch). The USD rallied modestly off 19-month lows. Gold had its worst day in 3 weeks, breaking below 1300 and testing its 100DMA (tick for tick with silver on the day). Oil prices jumped back up to around $101 as Copper slipped back towards $3. And finally, we hesitate to mention it... today's market schizophrenia was enough to trigger a Hindenburg Omen.

Confusion...

The divergence between high beta and the rest is growing quickly...another opening dump and pump though (Dow and Trannie sunch on the week) - only Trannies are green for May though

Close up on the day - Putin Pop, US open DUMP and Yellen Q&A Pump

As the momos continue to slide off the Tarullo top...

USDJPY was in charge - providing the anchor along with 30Y yields (as gold slipped - apparently on Putin's diplomacy)